U.S. Judge Rejects Toyota’s Request for Lawsuit Dismissal

A U.S. judge has largely rejected Toyota Motor Corp’s latest bid to dismiss a lawsuit from buyers who say their cars lost value because of unintended acceleration problems, according to a tentative ruling.

Toyota has recalled 19 million vehicles globally since 2009 when it took the first in a series of measures to fix problems with sticky accelerator pedals and potentially dangerous floormats.

Scores of lawsuits have been consolidated before a federal judge in southern California. In February, a U.S. government probe cleared Toyota’s electronics of causing unintended acceleration.

In an order available on the court’s Web site on Friday, U.S. District Judge James Selna kept intact the bulk of claims against Toyota, finding that the plaintiffs alleged enough specific facts to proceed with the lawsuit.

Selna issued a similar ruling last November. The lawsuit has yet to be certified as a class.

“Although Toyota is confident that no defect exists in its electronic throttle control system, at this early stage of the litigation the Court is required to accept as true all of the factual allegations made by plaintiffs’ counsel in ruling on Toyota’s Motion to Dismiss,” Toyota spokeswoman Celeste Migliore said in a statement.

The case in U.S. District Court, Central District of California is In re: Toyota Motor Corp. Unintended Acceleration Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, 10-2151. (Reporting by Dan Levine. Editing by Robert MacMillan, Gary Hill)